Watson and DHop should be good to go for another 5 years.. let's hope they aren't wasted.

I could nit pick on em all but you get my point.

Yes or No will suffice.

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Watson will continue to mature and learn and should be around for another 15 years hopefully.
Winning a SB takes a lot of things to go right.
A laundry list of "right" things:-
1. Excellent coaching in all facets of football.
2. The key piece of the team must be in place - a competent QB.
3. Have competent pieces in place to support the QB -i.e., a cohesive offense.
4. A competent defense.
5. The team stays relatively healthy during the season.

The answer is yes, but we will have to see how the team develops, now it has the key piece in place.

KC and Indy are ahead of us in most of the key pieces you mention. Nuk and DW4 give us hope, but until Brady's arm falls off I see us as hoping versus kicking the door in because those three teams are ahead of us now. Pittsburgh seems a mess

I'm gonna say yes. I know Houston history is against me for 50+ years. But I'm gonna be an optimist. Because if there is no hope, what's the point?

I'm gonna hope that they add a key OL vet and a rookie this year, along with a top CB, retain the right FA, have the breaks go our way for 19 weeks or more. Texans will come through like the Rockets (huge surprise there) Astros (maybe a bigger surprise) did. Never know when that missing piece (Verlander) will come along. Maybe it will be this year!

I'm gonna say yes. I know Houston history is against me for 50+ years. But I'm gonna be an optimist. Because if there is no hope, what's the point?

I'm gonna hope that they add a key OL vet and a rookie this year, along with a top CB, retain the right FA, have the breaks go our way for 19 weeks or more. Texans will come through like the Rockets (huge surprise there) Astros (maybe a bigger surprise) did. Never know when that missing piece (Verlander) will come along. Maybe it will be this year!

and no I ain't drunk yet

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One of the key aspects that Texans really need to address is their running game and that help starts in the trenches with the o-line.
Texans could not get a first down early on to save themselves in that wildcard game and that is what ultimately did them in.
If they had been able to score at least twice in that first half, they were in the game and their chances would have been dramatically higher.
Sure, defensive stops would have helped also but if you don't score points when the opposition does, you fall behind not only on the scoreboard, but in the minds of the players. If you don't score points, then you won't win games.
Texans have been a much better team with a working ground game and they desperately need to re-establish one.

One of the key aspects that Texans really need to address is their running game and that help starts in the trenches with the o-line.
Texans could not get a first down early on to save themselves in that wildcard game and that is what ultimately did them in.
If they had been able to score at least twice in that first half, they were in the game and their chances would have been dramatically higher.
Sure, defensive stops would have helped also but if you don't score points when the opposition does, you fall behind not only on the scoreboard, but in the minds of the players. If you don't score points, then you won't win games.
Texans have been a much better team with a working ground game and they desperately need to re-establish one.

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Don't know why you quoted me. Your post doesn't address the OP at all. You are just migrating the OL thread here. It's about more than that. Do you think the Texans can do it or not? What's your confidence level? Not asking for re-hash of known problems, but can they fix them?

Watson should be good for 10+ years if we get him some protection. If he keeps taking sacks like last season then every year is possibly his last. Once you have your QB in place then you can start building the team around them and be long term contenders.

Yeah KC is ahead of us but they may not stay that way for as long as some people think they will. Odds are, literally according most betting groups, they are winning the bowl this year and all teams after winning the bowl lose key players because that ring drives their price up so high. Mahomes is on a rookie deal just like Watson but I'm sure some of the rest are looking at getting paid next year if they win.

Indy doesn't scare me as much as it does others, think to many are making judgements based off that last game. Yeah they have improved but they still have the same problem now they always have had, they are completely dependent on Luck (pun intended). Now that's true for most teams with franchise QBs, including us, but the difference is Luck has been beat up more than most top shelf QBs playing now. No matter how good the line he is going to take some sacks and it wouldn't take much to put him out again. Also he is not near as mobile as he was 5 years ago so he can't get away like he use to.

As a side note I can see Brady retiring in the next 5 years, Rogers contact as handicapped Packers in many ways, Big Ben is very hit or miss on his seasons as is Brees so it's very much a young QB age.

So to answer your question if we patch the glaring holes we have with players that at least rate as decent then yeah I can see us winning within 3 years.

Watson should be good for 10+ years if we get him some protection. If he keeps taking sacks like last season then every year is possibly his last. Once you have your QB in place then you can start building the team around them and be long term contenders.

Yeah KC is ahead of us but they may not stay that way for as long as some people think they will. Odds are, literally according most betting groups, they are winning the bowl this year and all teams after winning the bowl lose key players because that ring drives their price up so high. Mahomes is on a rookie deal just like Watson but I'm sure some of the rest are looking at getting paid next year if they win.

Indy doesn't scare me as much as it does others, think to many are making judgements based off that last game. Yeah they have improved but they still have the same problem now they always have had, they are completely dependent on Luck (pun intended). Now that's true for most teams with franchise QBs, including us, but the difference is Luck has been beat up more than most top shelf QBs playing now. No matter how good the line he is going to take some sacks and it wouldn't take much to put him out again. Also he is not near as mobile as he was 5 years ago so he can't get away like he use to.

As a side note I can see Brady retiring in the next 5 years, Rogers contact as handicapped Packers in many ways, Big Ben is very hit or miss on his seasons as is Brees so it's very much a young QB age.

So to answer your question if we patch the glaring holes we have with players that at least rate as decent then yeah I can see us winning within 3 years.

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Okay, but please everyone, let'a not make this yet another OL or OB thread? Not speaking mainly to you mav, just using this as a launching point for my rant. Can we,as a board, not attack other poster with a differing view? Also known as 'attack the post, not the poster? And do we really need to share info that has been posted in one thread or another for 50 gazillion times? I know that those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it, but damn people, this is a MB meant for entertainment. Very sad if you get your entertainment being miserable

As much as I'd like to be optimistic about certain aspects of this group - Deshaun, DHop, JJ, hopefully bringing guys back affordably like JDC, Matthieu, Kareem, etc - I'm still hard pressed to have any confidence with the idea of OB staring across the field from the Belichick's, McVay's, Reid's, and Payton's off the league. Just is that it is until he gives me reason to believe otherwise.

As much as I'd like to be optimistic about certain aspects of this group - Deshaun, DHop, JJ, hopefully bringing guys back affordably like JDC, Matthieu, Kareem, etc - I'm still hard pressed to have any confidence with the idea of OB staring across the field from the Belichick's, McVay's, Reid's, and Payton's off the league. Just is that it is until he gives me reason to believe otherwise.

Don't know why you quoted me. Your post doesn't address the OP at all. You are just migrating the OL thread here. It's about more than that. Do you think the Texans can do it or not? What's your confidence level? Not asking for re-hash of known problems, but can they fix them?

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"Never know when that missing piece (Verlander) will come along."

Therein lies the problem. Does anyone even know what that "missing piece" is?

It's hard to have any confidence when one reads about all the holes in this team. If we believe all we read about it.

What do we see that could possibly inspire confidence?

Maybe the missing piece has arrived in our new GM. Hopefully he can solve the problem of an uninspiring / inefficient team now that he as all the assets to do so.

As much as I'd like to be optimistic about certain aspects of this group - Deshaun, DHop, JJ, hopefully bringing guys back affordably like JDC, Matthieu, Kareem, etc - I'm still hard pressed to have any confidence with the idea of OB staring across the field from the Belichick's, McVay's, Reid's, and Payton's off the league. Just is that it is until he gives me reason to believe otherwise.

Therein lies the problem. Does anyone even know what that "missing piece" is?

It's hard to have any confidence when one reads about all the holes in this team. If we believe all we read about it.

What do we see that could possibly inspire confidence?

Maybe the missing piece has arrived in our new GM. Hopefully he can solve the problem of an uninspiring / inefficient team now that he as all the assets to do so.

Like Thorn said, "we can only believe what we see."

But hope springs eternal.

Guess my answer is......maybe.

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If Gaine can have another strong draft and FA, then we will have plenty to look forward to.
And he will have a 1st and two 2nds to work with in this next draft so it will be a very interesting and important one for him and this team.

Since you are basically saying "IF everything goes our way can we make it?"

Im going to say "Yes" because we made it 11-5 season with what we have now......

However arguing probability and possibility are two separate debates.

Just cause its possible doesn't mean I believe its probable that we WILL have everything go our way.

I for one didn't think that Watt had any more years left in him after a second back surgery BUT I did say that IF anyone could come back from a second back surgery it would be him. So I would love for him to have a lot left in the tank and surprise me again.